Whenever I watch It’s a Wonderful Life (under protest*), I cringe over the recurring problem with the loose newel post finial. You know, the little annoyance that drives Jimmy Stewart’s character completely bonkers until he sees the light and realizes it–and everything else–is completely endearing.
My reaction, every time: JUST GLUE IT ALREADY! It would take FIVE MINUTES. They probably have glue at the store right down the street from the building and loan. Problem solved!
Ever notice that rich people make movies about how you should be satisfied with what you have? Not that I’m dissatisfied, it’s just an intriguing source for that particular oft-repeated message.
We have an ongoing problem with our front door, and that issue is never going to be Capra-esque. It’s crapra-esque at best. You know how a door is supposed to keep the outside out? Well, the cats have other ideas…
THIS IS OUR NEWEL FINIAL. IT IS NOT ENDEARING.
The world’s most spoiled cats have a TUNNEL from inside the house onto the porch, through which they can sashay at will in either direction. Despite this, they believe that they can enter through the door if they just chew through the weatherstripping. The sad result is that there’s a draft-ready gap that the weatherstripping no long plugs. You may recall we (sort of) dealt with this before: we temporarily closed the gap with extra nail-on weather-stripping, but the cats also chewed that up, for some daft cat reason.
I had a bunch of ideas about how to fix the problem, most of which involved rebuilding the door frame and incorporating rubberized insulation with integrated cat deterrent gel. Then Kev said, “Why don’t we just add trim that covers up the weatherstripping so they can’t get to it?”
Ok, that sounds like a better plan. First, we trimmed up the chewed weatherstripping so we could replace that piece. Hard to cut, even with a new blade; must have been a bitch to chew through. JUST USE THE TUNNEL, YOU DWEEBS.
Then we cut a new piece to replace it and stapled it into place.
We picked up some 1/4-inch-thick trim for the job.
Kev cut three lengths. The cats are not yet chewing around the top of the doorframe, but the trim will look better if it goes all the way around. We used a metal measuring stick as a spacer from the closed door so the trim didn’t hit the door every time it closed.
Butt up the trim against one side, use the spacer, then pop a nail near that end to start, then use the spacer again along the length of the piece.
Finish nails are plenty for this trim weight.
The trim forms a channel for the weatherstripping so it’s protected, but not compressed until the door closes against it.
Door frame from the inside.
The trim is only primed for now, pending a porch repainting in the spring.
At long last, no hole in the house!
*The reason I watch under protest [spoilers follow]: As I said to my dad, “The moral of the story is that you should give up your dreams and settle. The only thing he ever achieves is marrying a good woman.” My dad snorted and said, “Well, a good woman makes up for a LOT.” Which is a much better takeaway; probably, I should be less critical of predictable messages in holiday movies!
